Three military service academies report drop in number of applications

[bemildred]

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Maybe it's the near-daily grim reports of U.S. troops dying in Iraq, or maybe today's high school students aren't feeling the patriotism that flooded the U.S. military service academies with recruits three years ago. Whatever the reason, the academies have seen a dip in the number of applications for the coming school year, officials said.

The U.S. Naval Academy has noted a 20 percent drop in applicants compared with this time last year, and the Army's West Point recorded a drop of 8.7 percent, officials said.

The Air Force Academy, which as of Tuesday has received 6,823 applications for the Class of 2009, is down from the 7,652 applications it received at this time last year.

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As of Thursday, West Point had received 8,306 applications, down from 9,100 this time last year, he said. Throughout the 1990s and up until the fall of 2001, the academy averaged between 7,500 and 8,000 applications a year. After the terrorist attacks, it averaged some 11,000, he said. "There's a patriotic fervor when something like that happens," he said of the "spike."

European & Pacific Stars and Stripes

[Jack_Dawson]

1. Probably just a coincidence

These things happen in cycles.

:eyes:

[Supersedeas]

6. true, nothing to see here--back to innane polls and Presidential pep rally

[GHOSTDANCER]

7. Maybe during peace time.

[ladybugg33]

10. Yes, like when we are engaged in an illegal and immoral war.

If we are going to force "democracy" down the throats of the rest of the world, we will have to have a draft.

[CarolynEC]

2. It's because all the young repukes have signed up to be ground troops

Hahhahahahaha!!!

:7 :7 :7

[Wapsie B]

3. It's Bill Clinton's fault!

Sorry, just needed to get the obligatory BC rant out of the way.

[sleipnir]

4. I'd like to see comparison numbers for Undergrad admission nationwide

This story seems to be missing that element. How the academies fared versus the traditional Undergrad colleges. I have a sneaking suspicion that we'll see a drop in college applications nation-wide.

I really don't see how the academy could drop so much. Free top level education in sciences and technology and you only have to put in 8 years of service. You don't even have to serve in a direct combat position. You actually get to choose what you want to do and where you want to serve.

[mbperrin]

13. 2003-2004 College Admissions report right here!

http://www.nacac.com/downloads/2004research_execsum.pdf

Nope. College admissiona at all time highs. Maybe people would rather go to a tailgater after graduation instead of getting blown away in a foreign country.

[bigpathpaul]

20. IRAQ: Could this be spring break 2005?

http://bigpath.net/politics/Draft/DraftStart.html

[bemildred]

5. This is much less important than the problems with the grunts.

Desertion/AWOL, retention and recruitment numbers for
Non-coms and grunts are much more important. The academies
are for the elites. But it was interesting that the numbers
are down.

[teryang]

8. Military service is held in contempt by many of the top hs

..students. It has a lot to do with forced contact with recruiters on campus and the endless solicitations. The anti-war and anti militaristic rhetoric starts at the top and has a normative effect.

People avoid military service not realizing how relatively easy it is for professionals and officers to avoid direct involvement in combat should they choose to do so. The top high school students in the best high schools (these are the people targeted by the service academies) can get financial assistance readily from civilian universities. As the perceived risk or cost of one behavior is increased, the utility of the alternative behavior becomes more appealing.

[TahitiNut]

9. There are FOUR service academies!

(Damnit!) The one service academy that doesn't take "appointments" (by Presidents, Senators, Congresscritters, or Governors) is the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. (It's 100% by competitive examination.) Strangely enough, it's the one 'service' that actually performs a major 'service' other than wanton killing.

[tabasco]

11. 75% of military officers come from ROTC, not the academies.

ROTC recruiting is not going well either.

Pretty soon the standards for the officer corps will be reduced.

Thanks, Bush, for "improving" our military.

[jmowreader]

14. But the majority of generals come from the academies

There's a pecking order in the officer corps: when they're promoting, reducing the force or anything else, academy grads have precedence over ROTC grads.

Which means that if you want to be an officer, you'll probably go to ROTC. If you want to be an officer until you're 65, you go to the academy.

[tabasco]

17. Not accurate.

Roughly the same percentage of generals come from ROTC as the total number of officers.

Plus: ROTC officers are not at any disadvantage as far as promotions, etc. Academy officers do not get extra points or anything like that. How you do your job is the most important thing in getting promoted, wherever your commission came from.

Been there done that.

[RivetJoint]

18. You can't be an officer

until age 65 if you graduate from a service Academy. The longest an officer can serve is 35 years (if he/she makes Flag rank); 30 years if a Colonel. VERY, VERY few Flag rank officers get approval to serve beyond 35 years (e.g. Adm Rickover).

[RivetJoint]

19. Actually the percentage of Flag

Officers who are Academy grads is is bit higher than the percentage of Academy grads in the officer corps as a whole.

[steely]

12. A direct of result of high paying jobs in this economy.

QED

[Politicub]

15. Everyone knows the draft is coming

Iraq is a quagmire. Sad -- we didn't have to go to war. This was all something pushed by the Bush adminstration. Iraq didn't have a thing to do with 9/11. Damn you, Bush!

[barb162]

16. getting beheaded in a useless war doesn't inspire a lot of

patriotism for me.

[struggle4progress]

21. kick for Shrubya inspiring the nation's youth

:kick:

[crossroads]

22. Somehow, I am NOT surprised!

:eyes: